Nargles in the Mistletoe
by 3cheersforidiots
Summary: It's the last DA meeting before the Christmas break, and Harry doesn't know what to think. Or, he knows, he just doesn't know why. And also, there's somebody decided to stay in the Room of Requirements for a bit. Ch5 posted - beware, ch 5 is almost certainly getting rewritten in the near future. Rated T because... I guess because it feels like it should be?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Written for the UBC II. Prompt: Luna wit any male character, at least 1200 words.**

 **Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, I'm just borrowing them for a bit, and the italicized quote at the beginning is from the original, so all rights belong to JKR.**

 **Just a bit of OotP reimagination ;)**

 **Enjoi!**

" _Mistletoe," said Luna dreamily, pointing at a large clump of white berries placed almost over Harry's head. He jumped out from under it. "Good thinking," said Luna very seriously. "It's often infested with nargles."_

Harry - although he thought he'd might not even want to hear the answer - had the urge to ask Luna about just what in Merlin's name are nargles, simply out of curiosity. Unluckily (or just luckily enough, since it pretty much saved him from having to listen to some kind of explanation of the existence of magical creatures that might not even exist anyway), other pupils started to swarm in the Room of Requirement, and he was quickly dragged away from the fourth year Ravenclaw by his housemates, more specifically, the remaining members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, who simply informed Harry that they found the new additions to the team. After all, they were kind of needed since he and the Weasley twins were, well, kind of banned by Umbridge.

But, even though he was indeed interested in the topic of the new Seeker and Beaters, he couldn't quite get his mind off of the grey eyed witch and her strange quirks. He also couldn't quite grasp why was it in this particular moment that he had to think about Luna, after all, it's not like didn't see her at every DA meeting, and it's not like they never shared a conversation before. They have talked, for longer amounts of time even, but for some reason, he was thinking about her, something he hadn't really done before. He though maybe it was because it was almost Christmas, and he definitely knew that people often had strange thoughts in the holiday season, but he still somehow bothered with it.

And as much as he would have liked to continue his train of thoughts about the girl, and his other train of thoughts about the oddity of his train of thoughts, the room was almost full by this moment, and almost every member of Dumbledore's Army has arrived, so he decided to think about it later – if he was ever going to get under good enough circumstances - , and he started the meeting.

In Harry's mind, the meeting was succesfull, as per usual, but it wasn't succesfull in particular, since it was merely exercising what the group learned over the last few months. Though, he had to admit, this whole "impromptu practical DADA study group" turned out to be better than he imagined it would be when Hermione first told him the idea. There were a lot of students who wanted to learn actual defense, and most of them were improving gradually over the weeks, and as a teacher figure for them, Harry felt proud.

Harry noticed that almost everybody left the room, except for Cho Chang, who was standing near the entrance of the room, looking just a little bit down in the dumps. He wanted to talk to her, especially at this moment, but his throat was suddenly going dry, so in the end, he only managed to choke up a weak "Cho!", and then waiting for any kind of response.

"Harry, I-…" she started, then she let out a sigh, and simply held out a piece of paper in front of her, waiting for Harry to take it. "I really wanted to talk to you, but I guess we can do it later too… So, just take this and read it only when you're alone, okay? It's kind of private." Harry simply nodded, though confusion was written all over his face while he took what seemed like a letter.

"But why can't we talk now? I mean, there's only the two of us here, right?" he asked.

"Not exactly." she pointed behind Harry, who took a turn right where he was, and then was faced with one Luna Lovegood, who was sitting on one of the cushions, completely ignoring the other two. "I should get going now. See ya later, Harry." And thus, she waaved goodbye and quickly exited the room.

Harry was still standing there, surprised and just a bit dumbfounded. He was looking at the blond witch, his thoughts of earlier suddenly coming back in his head, then he realized that if he was going to stand there like a stick, he would probably have to do it for a copious amount of time, since Luna didn't show any signs of changing her position, she was too absorbed in her own world to do just that.

So, he decided to take a few steps closer, until he was close enough to lightly tap the girl's shoulder. She slowly turned to face the boy, and then she looked up at him with the little smile she almost always wore on her face.

"Hello, Harry. How are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm… Fine, I guess. But, uhm, can I ask why are you here? Just being curious."

"I like to just think sometimes, about things. I just sit down and think. I usually don't notice things around me those times. Like now, I didn't even see you coming."

"You didn't see me? So you didn't see Cho either?"

"She was here? I'm sorry, I must have interrupted something, then." Harry, who caught himself looking at the same direction as Luna was, probably searching for that something he imagined she saw here, but now, he turned to face her from the side.

Was it that obvious?

 _It probably was, if she noticed it too, you idiot._

Or maybe she simply knows people by looking at them. She did occasionally make surprisingly accurate observations about people. After all, people would think that she doesn't really care about the world outside her, because she has her own fairytales to live in. And she does indeed has this 'other world', but she also occasionally noticed lots of things other people didn't. She was hard to figure completely out, but because of this mysteriousness that was definitely in her aura, she was definitely interesting to think about, to say at least.

"No, not really, we were just…" Harry tried to explain, but he himself didn't know just what exactly what he was supposed to say. This happened uncomfortably often lately. "You know what? It doesn't really matter. But, how did you know about this whole thing?"

"It's hard not to pay attention to something everybody talks about. Cho is my housemate, after all." she said, still looking at that mysterious point in the air she has been for long minutes. "And I can sense you're nervous around her. Either you like her, or you have a problem with the Wrackspurts around your head."

"What are… Wrackspurts, was it?"

"Oh, you didn't know about them? They're the things that fly all around your head, and they make you all fuzzy. You should know, you have a lot of them around you right now."

"Ah, okay." Harry didn't exactly bother to understand, he just put it aside as yet another quirk. "And, uh, what is it that you think about when you zone out like this?" he asked, but he didn't get an answer. He supposed Luna zoned out again, so he nudged her shoulder yet again.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What did you ask again?"

"What is it that you think about when you, uh, think about things? What are those things?"

"That? Everything and nothing. Sometimes I think about how strange the color purple is, sometimes I think about my Potions essay, or something like that. But if you were referring to what I was thinking about just now, I was thinking about you."

"Me? What about me?"

"All sorts of things, really. Like, how I enjoyed this DA meeting, or, like how your glasses are always broken, You know, it could be fixed with a simple charm. Do you want me to repair it?" she offered, still in her dreamy voice.

"No, I can do it myself, but thanks." he stopped to think for a moment. "Would it be strange if I told you that I was thinking about you too just now?"

"I'm surprised. People never really think about me. They just pass me like I'm not even there. Or they make fun of me."

"And don't you feel bad when they make fun of you?"

"Not really. At least not anymore, I got used to it."

"I think you should stand up for yourself. They won't leave you alone if you don't."

"Maybe. But I don't want to cause them trouble. You know, you're the first to tell me this."

"No one ever told you to do something about it? But you shouldn't just let them bully you, just like that."

"No, not really. But I trust you, Harry, so I guess I could try, I just don't know how."

"Just… You can always ask for help. Hell, you can talk about it to me if you want to. I understand. I speak from experience." He didn't exactly know why he shared this piece of information, since he never really talked about his childhood with anyone, because he thought no one would understand, and he didn't want people to feel pity over him. Maybe it was because she sometimes felt the same? Or she simply had a similar situation, even if she handled it differently, and he decided to trust her enough to talk about something the two of them both would understand.

He trusted her.

The term sounded a bit strange in his head, because he never really thought about just how many people he trusted, and on what level. His best friends, Hermione and Ron, of course, the whole Weasley family for that matter, Sirius, Remus, Dumbledore, hell, he even trusted Neville, he realized. He hasn't thought about it before, and he hasn't especially thought about how he trusted Luna too. And he did. He did trust her, deeper than he thought.

"Thank you, Harry. You're a good person."

"Thanks, I guess." A few moments of comfortable silence passed after that, while the two of them just stared at nothing in particular, busy with their own thoughts, when Luna finally talked.

"You know, you asked me what I was thinking about, and what I was thinking about you, in particular, so it's only fair if I ask you the same, right? What were _you_ thinking about when you thought about me?"

"I… I don't really know, Luna. Just… things. I never really thought about you before, either. But now I did, for some reason, and I don't know what that reason is. And I simply can't get it out of my head, and that's strange. Just… I thought it was because it's almost the winter break and all, but I really don't know, and it's kind of annoying. I mean, you're not annoying, just not knowing why I suddenly started to think about you is. You get what I mean?"

"I guess. I haven't really thought about why I think about things, but it seems interesting. I don't think you need a reason to think about things, anyway. Thoughts just come naturally to me. Don't they to you?"

"They do. But sometimes, when I think about things I never thought about yet, they surprise me, and sometimes I try to find the reason behind it. It's really strange, you know."

"So you don't think my opinion is strange?"

"Not really, if I look at it objectively. I don't think your way of thinking is strange. You're not strange, you're just not the same as others. But I think that makes you valuable. To have your own opinion, to be the black sheep among the whites, I look up to those people, you know?"

"I guess. I never really cared about what other people thought about me. I just assumed they have their own world, which they see as they want. I think everybody's different in a way. You're also different. Like, famous people usually become selfish and overconfident, but not you. Most people don't believe your story of You-Know-Who, but you wouldn't lie about it. I believe you."

"Thanks. As you can see, there are not many people who believe the same." he let out a bitter laugh, which wasn't exactly meant to be, but still sounded surprisingly loud in the big room which was filled with silence before.

"Eventually they will, I imagine. No rumor lives forever."

"I hope so. Or else, we'll really be in a pickle, right?" he didn't get an answer to his kind of lyrical question, because Luna suddenly stood up, as if she forgot something important, which she probably didn't, because she wouldn't care about it much.

"It's pretty late, don't you think? We should get going. It was nice talking to you. See you later." Harry's brain didn't even register what happened until a few moments later, because it happened so fast, but Luna quickly leaned down and pecked Harry on the cheek, before hurrying out of the Room of Requirements.

Harry blinked a few times, then looked around, as if he was searching for something, then blinked a few times again, just to be sure he didn't imagine what just happened, and after that, suddenly realizing that it was indeed getting late, he finally stepped out of the room, and as effectively as he could, he hurried down the corridors.

"Where in Merlin's name have you been, Harry?" asked a very frustrated, but also just a bit worried Hermione Granger when the boy entered the Gryffindor Common Room.

"I… Long story. Like, really long. And I'm also kind of too tired to talk bout right now, so can we discuss this later? Please?"

"No, not this one, mate. Who cares if you're tired? We have time, right, 'Mione?" chimed in Ron too.

"You're right this time, Ron. I suppose it was Cho?"

"Surprisingly enough, no. I mean, technically, it kind of was her, but then it wasn't really. It was only partly her, but it was mostly somebody else. You know what I mean?"

"Not really, mate. What happened if it wasn't Cho, or, what happened to her so it suddenly wasn't her? You mean to tell me that you two didn't snog after the meeting after all?"

"Well, no. Not at all." At his answer, Ron pulled out a few sickles from his pocket, and reluctantly place dit in Hermione's hand. "Wait, you guys did a bet on me?" The other two just smiled innocently. "Ron, I understand. But Hermione? We're affecting you really badly." The other two simply laughed at that, and soon, Harry joined in too.

"You know, you still owe us a story about what happened." noted Hermione, after the trio cooled down a bit.

"I warned you, this is going to be a long one. So…"

 **A/N: Hm, this turned out interestingly, but I hope you enjoyed!**

 **Reviews are always appreciated and cherished!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, I decided to continue, and I have a concept on how things are gonna go with this story. My take on this story is that it's gonna be kinda like a series of one-shots, which follow the story through until the end of DH. I already have most of it planned, so it's gonna be a couple more chapters in 5** **th** **year, with probably some time-jumps in between, and then we move on to HBP and so on. And that's about it.**

 **Oh, and I may have not actually nailed Cho's character this time. Sooo, I'd be really glad if I got some kind of criticism concerning it (good or bad, I'll take it to the heart if it's constructive). Thanks in advance!**

 **Actually, that might be because for once, I wanted a story where Cho is not a whiny bitch. Hm.**

 **Enjoi!**

* * *

It was just a couple of days before the 14th of February, which marked Valentine's Day, as usual, and Harry Potter was in a dilemma.

Simply because he was planning on taking Cho with him at the weekend for a date in Hogsmeade, which he was also hoping to go well, in fact, so well that he originally planned to ask her to officially be his girlfriend. Some of these plans included going to Madam Puddifoot's and having a nice conversation – or something else, about that, he didn't quite know yet – over a cup of tea, or, at those times when he felt like that would be too cheesy, he also thought about going somewhere more generic – considering the fact that the nature of their dialogues were more friendly than romantic, at least in the last few months -, like Three Broomsticks.

Which would have been okay, but he was doubting himself. And of course, he had a reason for it, and he knew painfully well what – or should I say who – was this reason, and he just couldn't let go of the thought that if he stuck to his original plans, he would be missing out on something much better. And also the fact that there was a little voice in his head, which was constantly reminding him that a date with Cho could very well end up disastrous. He didn't know why was his mind telling him this, but he had a feeling that he should trust his instincts this one time.

And if that wasn't enough, he still had the note which Cho gave him after last year's final DA meeting. The note was pretty simple, it only said _"I want to talk to you, privately. Please send me a note so we can arrange something, okay?"_ on it, and Harry couldn't help but wonder about what was so important to her that she could only talk about it between only the two of them.

But that wasn't actually his biggest problem, considering the fact that he still had nightmares about when he saw Mr. Weasley being attacked by a snake – and he still saw everything from the animal's point of view, every single time, and it was still frightening as hell – and that he just read in the Daily Prophet that a bunch of Death Eaters got on the loose again. Not to mention that the majority of the wizarding world still believed that Sirius Black was behind everything, and his opinion was still frowned upon. And on top of that, he also had to attend his Occlumency lessons, held by none less than Snape. Not much to his dismay, he had to realize that this was just another subject in the bunch which he seemed to be terrible and utterly talentless at.

To put it simply, he had more important things to worry about than his not-so-existent love life. But of course, he knew it would be kind of rude if he never answered to Cho's letter, so it was on this particular afternoon that when he caught a glimpse of the girl on one of the hallways, he didn't hesitate to go after her, grab her arm when he was close enough, and pull her aside for a moment.

"Hey, Cho." he said, not quite sure of what he was going to say after.

"Hi, Harry. Is there anything you want?"

"Well, about that note you gave me the other day. Can we talk about it now, I mean, only if you have the time?"

"Um, yeah, sure, but where exactly?"

"We can always go to the Room of Requirements. So, is now okay for you?"

"I guess it is..." she just shrugged in a pretty uncollected way, which was generally unusual of her, even though this tendency seemed to cease after the end of the last school year.

But Harry didn't bother to take notice of such little details, he just grabbed the girl by the wrist and pulled her after him until they reached the seventh floor corridor, and stood opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. Then, he proceeded to walk in front of the wall three times, chanting _"I need a place where I can talk with Cho"_ to himself. After the third time, a door appeared on the otherwise flat and smooth wall, and the boy ushered Cho in before closing the door from the inside. The room seemed to kind of resemble a miniature version of a Common Room, with only a pair of loveseats and chairs scattered all around with some tables, and of course with the unforgettable fireplace. Except, this room didn't have a specified color scheme, as the furniture had every shade of the rainbow in it.

"So... What was it that you wanted to talk about, then?" said Harry, while plopping down on one of the sofas, more specifically, the purple one, since that was the closest to him.

"Believe me when I say I absolutely didn't plan this to go this way, okay? But, I kind of just wanted to clue you in as for who you should invite for the Hogsmeade weekend, in retrospect." she let out a mildly exasperated sigh after that. Harry just glanced at her, seemingly interested in the topic. "And also believe when I say I actually wanted to go with you, but now, I don't think it would be the best idea."

"Why not? I mean, if you wanted to, why couldn't we go together?"

"Because you have someone better, I know that for fact, trust me. Look, this may sound selfish, but what I would want from a prospective boyfriend is to listen to me when I talk about my problems, and…" she again took a deep breath before continuing. "about Cedric. I guess you could say I'm still not over it. I really thought I was, or at least I should be, but no, it's apparently not that easy." a single teardrop escaped her eyes, and she had to stop for a few moments so that she wouldn't break down in the middle of her speech. "And while I do like you, I don't think I want to burden you with all this. I'm not ready for a new relationship yet. And, just in case you ask, I realized this during the break. I actually had time to think about it rationally."

"It's okay, Cho, I understand. It really is okay. Please, don't cry about it, okay?" Harry hadn't the slightest clue what to do with the girl, who was now sobbing uncontrollably, but he was sure as hell that he didn't just want to be awkwardly sitting, doing nothing while the other was crying their eyes out. So, he quickly ran through his options, and choosing the one his gut trusted the most, he stepped closer and – trying to be the least awkward as he could be in social situations - wrapped an arm around the Ravenclaw. "Hey, let's talk about something happier, okay?"

Cho seemed to quiet down a bit, and after a bit, she seemed to trust her voice enough to answer. "Okay, I'll try. What do you have in mind?" She looked at the Gryffindor after they finally broke apart.

"Like, cluing me in about this person you think I should spend my Valentine's Day with."

"I think it's pretty obvious."

"But, what if you have someone else in mind? How am I going to know who you think I'm best suited for if you don't tell me?"

"First of all, even if I say you'd look great with someone, you don't have to agree, you know. Second of all, if you really want to know, well, I think it easily narrows down your options if I say she's a fellow Ravenclaw."

"I knew it was Lisa Turpin!" said Harry with a smile on his face and a playful glint in his eyes.

"And not in your year, if that helps."

"Then you actually do want me to go with you, right?"

"Come on, don't mess with me." She just rolled her eyes. "She's younger than you. To be exact, she's a fourth year."

"Thought so. If you want to know the truth, I've actually thought of asking her, I just don't know how could I approach her. I mean, I do talk with her occasionally, but I'm not good at this whole romance thing, you know."

"I noticed. But I don't think you should overthink it. Just find her, ask if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade with you, and that's it. She probably wouldn't say no anyway, she's hell bent on making everyone feel happy anyway."

"That last bit didn't help me, thank you very much, but I guess there's no other way, right?"

"There are other ways, like sending her an owl, which is terribly impersonal, and I advise you never even think about trying it out, or something hopelessly romantic, like giving a red rose with the invitation, but I really don't think that's her style. I mean, what is her style, really?" Cho waved her arms helplessly.

"Something out of ordinary. Something incredibly weird. Something no sane person would even consider. Something that is unmistakably her. That's her style." Harry said, deep in thought.

"You really did think about it, didn't you?" she said. When the boy didn't seem to answer, she spoke again. "You like her a lot, right?"

"I guess I do. I haven't figured it out completely yet."

"Well, I can see it on your face. I know you do."

"Is figuring out a person before they do themselves a common Ravenclaw trait?"

"That, I don't know. Maybe you just happen to know just the right people."

"Yeah, maybe." the room fell into the embrace of silence for a few moments before Cho raised her voice again.

"Anyhow, I think you should just simply ask her. This is just another Hogsmeade weekend, after all. And don't tell me you're too much of a coward to do it. You've faced death a couple of times before, for Merlin's sake! Don't tell me you can't ask a simple question from a girl."

"I guess, it's just… different."

"I really don't think so. Look, you're a Gryffindor for a reason. Though, it might help if I tell you that she seems to like you too. It's kind of hard to tell with her, but I'm pretty sure she would be glad to accompany you."

"Really?"

"Yes, really, and if you excuse me, I still have classes today, so I guess I'll get going. Just, don't forget about what I said." and with that, she rushed out of the room into the seventh floor corridor. Harry kind of wanted to go after her, to ask more questions, or something of a kind, but he decided against it. After all, he still had a girl to ask out. After what seemed like hours, but in reality, it took only minutes, he gathered the courage he knew existed in himself, he left the Room of Requirements, and went on for a search of the fourth-year Ravenclaws. He had no clue if they had any classes left for the day, so he decided he would ask Hermione, since he knew her as the person who probably bothered to memorize most of the timetables. At least the ones concerning their closest friends.

* * *

And he was absolutely right about his conjecture which told him his best friends would be in the Gryffindor Common Room, with Hermione probably writing her essays for the next month, and Ron playing exploding snap with Seamus, or something like that. His eyes instantly found his friends upon entering the portray hole, and he approached the brunette as quick as he could.

"Hey, Hermione, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did." she replied, her face still buried in a book which seemed to be about Runes. "You know you can, just please, make it quick."

"Okay, so do you know if the fourth-year Ravenclaws have any lessons left today?"

"What's the time?"

"Half past three." Harry said after casting a quick _Tempus_.

"No, I don't think so. At least, I'm pretty sure the Gryffindors are free now, though I'm not sure about the Ravenclaws. May I ask why?"

"It's not the matter. Thanks!" and before she even had the time to reply, he was outside of the portray hole again.

* * *

Harry's gut instincts again proved to be right when he stepped out of the castle and when he looked around, he caught a glimpse of dirty blond hair almost immediately. Just who he has been searching for. So, without any second thoughts, he walked in the direction of the tree he saw Luna Lovegood sitting by. By the time he was close enough, the girl already noticed his presence, and she looked up at him with her usual, dreamy smile.

"Hello, Harry. How are you doing?"

"Hey, Luna. I'm fine, I guess." he felt his nervousness creep upon him once again. "Um, can I sit here?"

"Sure." And with that, Harry took a seat just beside Luna. For a brief period of time, neither of them said anything, since the girl seemed to be content within her thoughts, and Harry still fighting himself, while he tried to gather his thoughts. But finally, he seemed convinced enough that nothing could go wrong, so he opened his mouth to speak.

"So, Luna?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Do you plan on going to Hogsmeade this weekend."

"I guess I do. Though, I'm not sure. I don't always go."

"And let's say you do want to go. Do you have anyone to go with?"

"Nobody asked me yet. But I usually go alone, anyway. Why'd you ask?"

"Well, I was thinking… Maybe, if you really wanted to, I mean, no pressure, or anything, just…"

"I guess you want to go with me then?"

"Yeah, pretty much. Only if you want to."

"I'll gladly." she glanced at Harry with a small smile. "I'll meet you on Saturday, then?"

"Yeah, on Saturday." said Harry, and for once, he was glad he didn't have to ask twice.

* * *

 **A/N: So, this seems to be quite a long chapter, so I'm splitting it in two, which means, Hogsmeade weekend will be the next chapter (hope at least some of y'all are exited).**

 **Also, reviews are always appreciated and cherished, hope you enjoyed!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So, I have some info written down for this story and my other projects on my profile, so if you want quick updates on what I'm doing, I advise you go and check it out (but in short, for this, I'm planning on 1 update/2 weeks, depending on my schedule).**

 **And I'm also terribly sorry for not updating sooner, you know, I have loads of things to do at school while I also have shit ton of challenges, so yeah, my schedule is kinda messed up.**

 **And uh… I have the terrible feeling that I rushed this whole thing in terms of developing feelings, but eh, I guess I'll have to compensate later on :/**

 **And for those who might have read Chapter 3 of 12 Times Sirius and Hermione Fell in Love, yes, the Shrieking Shack will be a recurring thing, much like the Jarvey. There are some things I just can't leave out :D**

 **Also, thanks for every lovely follow, favourite, and review, I appreciate them all! :)**

 **Enjoi!**

* * *

The weekend came soon. It was late in the morning, and most of the 3rd years or higher were waiting just outside the Main Hall, much like Harry, who was nervously fidgeting with his fingers, glancing at the main staircase from time to time, waiting for Luna to arrive.

He had been planning this 'date' for the last few days. He wasn't quite sure if he could call it an actual date yet, since he didn't want to jump into conclusions, and he hadn't a slightest clue as to what the Ravenclaw girl thought about it anyway. He didn't even know when did he actually start thinking about her 'that' way, it just kind of happened around December.

 _Maybe this is just how things work,_ he thought. _You just have a sudden thought in your mind at some point, and the next thing you know, you're attracted to a person you never thought you would fascinate._

He hadn't planned anything particularly fancy for this day. He knew that Luna was a very simplistic girl in terms of entertainment, she didn't need much to enjoy herself, but he also knew that she liked quiet places more, because she needed to get away from loud noises in order to get absorbed in her own world. This ruled out what he would have done originally, which consisted of going to Three Broomsticks and drink a few butterbeers while talking about general stuff. He also didn't want to go to shops like Spintwitches, since he could buy his Quidditch equipment the next time he went to the small wizarding village. They didn't have their next match until March, after all.

Truth be told, he wasn't quite sure where did the girl would have wanted to go. He hadn't asked her if there were any places she hasn't seen, or if there was anything she particularly preferred. In retrospect, maybe he should've asked her, but it was kind of late to think about it that way, so, he thought, he was going to improvise.

And he had to leave his thought on the matter at that, since he caught a glimpse of dirty blond hair as Luna came down the stairs. He thought she looked fabulous, though she wasn't wearing anything fancy, just a simple pair of jeans with a cream-coloured sweater, and of course, her unmistakeable earrings. Harry had actually once asked her what kind of herb was hanging off of it, but unfortunately, he forgot – and he cursed himself enough times for that -, so he was just hoping it wouldn't come into any of their conversations. Though, he had to wonder just how would they end up talking about the girl's earrings anyway.

The Ravenclaw quickly strode down on the stairs, and when she reached the bottom, she hopped in front of Harry and looked up at him with her usual, dreamy smile.

"Hey, Harry," she greeted him quietly.

"Hey, Luna," the boy replied while he let out a small smile. "Are we ready to go then?"

"Sure," the witch nodded, and looped her hand around Harry's as they walked out of the Main Hall.

On the way down to Hogsmeade, the pair talked about what Harry labelled as 'silly little things', like how Harry hated Umbridge's guts – which he mentioned ever so often -, or how Luna's Transfiguration assignment got lost again – suspiciously enough, on the same exact day they were supposed to hand it in -, and how Harry supposed it was the work of those few people who always picked on the girl.

"Do you want me to send them a hex or two? I'm sure they would appreciate it," he said jokingly after Luna just shook her head upon hearing his guess. "But now really," his face turned serious again. "I think we've talked about this. And I don't want people to bully my friends. I'd absolutely get detention for standing up for you."

"I'd rather you don't, Harry," replied the witch. "I don't think it's worth it. I know what Umbridge is capable of if she catches you. Hermione told me what she did to your hand in September. I don't want you to get hurt over something unimportant," she seemed to be deep in thought for a moment. "Besides, I've been here for four years, and I'm still in one piece. You shouldn't worry about it."

"Okay," the wizard sighed. "But don't forget to tell me if you want Ron to jinx someone to oblivion." she smiled faintly at him when he told her that.

"Leaving the dirty work to someone else is not your style, Harry." she noted.

"No, it isn't," the boy nodded. "Look, we're here. Is there anything in particular you want to see, or… Do you need anything we can buy here?" he turned to face the girl, who was once again deep in thought before she answered.

"I think I might go to Scrivenshaft's. I'm running out of quills again because they keep disappearing. But I think that's all." she finished, then gazed at the boy. "Do you have any plans?"

"Not really. I thought of going to Three Broomsticks, because it's always a nice place to hang out, but I just don't feel like it," he shrugged. "And it's much more exciting if we go somewhere we usually don't, right?"

"I guess," she contemplated before her eyes lit up again. "Have you been to the Shrieking Shack?"

Harry couldn't help but stifle a laugh before he answered.

"I think I've seen more things in there than I wanted to," he said, still smiling to himself. "Have you been there?"

"I've only seen it from the outside, but I never went in," she exclaimed. "My dad once told me it must have been infested with Blabbering Humdingers, and that they must have been the origin of the ghastly voices people often heard."

Harry didn't really know how to tell her that it was, in fact, Remus Lupin, their old DADA professor, but he really didn't want to ruin the Ravenclaw's mood, so he simply steered the direction of the conversation to a slightly different topic.

"Well, I got some stories about the place. So, if you want to hear them, maybe we can get you those quills, and then head to see the Shack? Speaking of which, I think I might need some too. I have the bad habit of chewing on them, and it's pretty awkward when a feather goes down on your throat and you almost choke to death." the boy mused.

"Maybe you should get some sugar quills then?" Luna advised. "They're tasty."

"I'll consider the idea," Harry nodded. "Let's go."

Not half an hour later, the pair stepped out of Scrivenshaft's into the chilly February weather. They were chatting, a smile visible on both their faces.

"I think this notebook fits you well," Harry noted, while he pointed at Luna. The witch was holding a booklet with one hand, and a few feather quills in the other. The little copybook had miniature fairies dancing all over the cover, painted in all seven colours of the rainbow. "It just looks very… Luna-ish. It looks all colourful and happy, just like you usually are."

"Yes, I agree," she replied. "I like it." she noted, then she waited for a couple of moments before she turned to face Harry. "Do you want to go and see the Shack now?"

"Yeah, but only if you do," he said.

"I do," the witch nodded happily, then she grabbed the boy's upper arm and dragged him away.

Not long after, the two of them were standing in the outskirts of Hogsmeade, right in front of the entrance of the ancient building that stood there. Luna was eyeing the place up and down while she chewed on the end of one of her newly bought quills.

"Harry, do you think I should draw this?" she asked from the boy, who was standing right next to her. "It looks beautiful from the outside."

"If you want to," he shrugged. "But, hey, don't you want to see it from the inside as well?"

"Yeah," the girl nodded. "But only if you promise I can draw it when we finish." Harry just shook his head before answering.

"I promise. Is that okay?" when the witch shot him one of her bright grins, he pushed the old door open, and stepped inside, with Luna soon following him. "What do you think?"

"Spectacular," came the answer. "You said you have some stories about this place. Can you tell me one?"

"Sure," Harry spoke. "Remember when two years ago, everybody was so sure that Sirius wanted to kill me?" Luna contemplated for a moment, then she nodded in understanding. "Well, we – I mean, me, Hermione and Ron -, kind of discovered otherwise. And it all happened here." he started. "You know, we almost caught Peter Pettigrew. Almost," he sighed. "What a shame it was a full moon that night. I have a terrible luck when it comes to end-of-the-schoolyear revelations, as you might have noticed," Luna couldn't help but giggle when he said that. "Actually, if you want me, I can show you the room where most of it happened, I mean, if you want to see it."

"Of course I want to see it!" Luna exclaimed excitedly. "I might get to paint it as well. I think it would look wonderful."

"Really? Then come this way." Harry urged as the two of them walked up on the creaky flight of stairs.

* * *

It was later in the afternoon, and Harry and Luna were still sitting beside one of the dusty, old tables in the abandoned building in the outskirts of Hogsmeade. The girl was seemingly absorbed in her notebook while her pencil ran along the surface of the paper. All the while, Harry was content with watching her.

He had to admit to himself, she looked rather beautiful when she casted out the world around her, when she was contemplating about something with a faint, dreamy smile on her face.

He could have watched her forever, he could've watched her dirty blond hair as it shone in the dim sunlight, which was still coming through the broken windows, he could've watched her face, which was covered in graphite from the mess she made while she drew, and he could've watched her hands as they filled the page with thousands of shades of grey and black, creating something that was so simple and yet, it was art in its true form.

Luna suddenly looked up and she fixed her gaze on the boy sitting next to her. Her face was beaming with happiness.

"Do you want to take a look at it?" she asked. "It's almost finished."

For a few moments, Harry tried to comprehend her words, as he was still deep in thought, but then, he mentally shook himself and answered.

"Yeah, can I see it?" he reached for the freshly-bought notebook, and turned it sideways so that he could have a look at it from the right angle.

It was a drawing of the room they were in, but somehow, it looked…surreal. The walls were slightly bent in, the floor looked like it was going to melt, and everything seemed to have more curves than edges. If he had to describe it with one word, he would have said it was abstract, in the most positive sense of the word.

"This is… interesting," he finally choked out, while his eyes were still flicking between the drawing and the actual outlook of the room. "I didn't know you liked abstract art. Though," he mused for a moment before he continued. "It fits you. I like it."

"Really?" the witch's eyes lit up. "I'm glad you like it. If you want, I can draw you more of these."

"That would be awesome." Harry replied. "Though, it's getting late. We should head back to Hogwarts; don't you think?"

"Oh," Luna's smile faltered a bit. "I really would have liked to stay for a little longer."

"Hey, we can come back here on the next Hogsmeade weekend, if you want," Harry reassured the girl.

"I'd love to do that," Luna said as she stood up without hesitation. "So, are you coming?"

"Sure," the boy answered.

The two of them quickly dashed down the stairs then. Somewhere about halfway down, they decided to make it a race, which Harry won, but only by a bit.

After they had closed the entrance of the Shrieking Shack, they walked down on the main road of Hogsmeade, still catching their breaths because of the running and the laughter that followed.

When the pair finally arrived back at Hogwarts, Luna quietly bid her goodbye to Harry by giving him a peck on the cheek, to which the latter turned an interesting shade of red while he mumbled some nonsense about how much he enjoyed himself that day, before scurrying up the stairs.

He couldn't wait to talk about his day with the two other thirds of the Golden Trio.

* * *

 **So, what do you think? Was it horrible? Was it not? Tell me how reading it felt like :)  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, so. First of all, I wrote this chapter in a hurry, I had virtually no time to look through it because I wanted to finish in March.**

 **Second of all, I'm terribly sorry for not updating as I promised I would. I think I'll settle for slower updates here, since I'm not sure when and how I'll have time to write, but I'm not abandoning it, that's for sure. I just… have a messy schedule.**

 **Third of all, I need a beta for this story, because I generally write really fast and participate in lots of challenges with deadlines, and I don't always have time to beta my own stories. So, yeah. If you want to, you can throw me a PM about it. If not… I guess I'll manage somehow.**

 **Fourth of all, I'm changing not one, but a couple of pairings in this story. Not quite sure who Hermione will end up with, but you can see a hint towards Ron later in this chap.**

 **PSA over. This is a bit of a filler chapter, but sometimes we all need those too. Enjoy.**

* * *

"So, when are you planning on asking Luna out?" Hermione nudged Harry's side, while the two of them walked across the fourth-floor corridor. The bushy-haired Gryffindor had dragged Harry out of the Common Room, where he had been playing Exploding Snap with Dean, Seamus and Ron, claiming that they had to do some emergency studying in the library.

At the mention of the fourth-year Ravenclaw, Harry couldn't help but turn his head towards Hermione in shock. Of all questions, he never expected her to corner him with this one.

"Don't look so dumbfounded," she continued. "I'm not asking because I want to give you relationship advice; you know I'm rubbish at those kinds of things. I'm just… interested. I think you and Luna would make a nice pair."

"Is it that obvious?" Harry finally managed to choke out. "I mean, that I… you know."

"Yes, I know, and yes, it is," Hermione sniggered. "Even I noticed, and you know well that I don't have an eye for these things."

"That's true," Harry smirked at her, to which he earned a slap to his upper arm. "Hey!"

"You deserved it," Hermione exclaimed.

"It's not fair; if I say anything bad, you can slap me, but I can't slap anyone if they talk dirty about me?" Harry whined.

"Now, how would it look like if the Boy-Who-Lived gave a right hook to somebody just because they didn't agree? Preposterous," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Even if it seems like your reputation couldn't go deeper in the hole, it would just add fuel to the fire, don't you think?"

"I guess," Harry shrugged. "Though it was a rhetorical question. I don't really feel like giving a right hook to anyone, really. But I may set a certain black dog after some people if they rile me up enough."

"You never learn," Hermione shook her head playfully. "Now, I really do need to study, we have a Charms exam on Thursday, and I feel like I might falter while writing it if I don't go through Silencing Charm one more time! And you should come too, Harry. I can't help you out all the time," she explained, although Harry knew that she would help them either way, if he and Ron asked. Some things never changed, he guessed.

"I… I have some emergency business to attend to," he answered when he caught a glimpse of dirty blond hair at the end of the corridor. "So, see you later, Hermione," he rushed out his goodbye before hurrying away to catch up with the Ravenclaw girl. Before turning the corner, however, he still saw his bushy-haired best friend shaking her head in slight disbelief before scurrying off to the library.

 _That went well_ , he mentally shrugged.

"Luna!" he called out after the dirty blond-haired witch as soon as he saw Hermione disappear behind the huge oak door of the library.

Luna, after hearing her name, slowly turned around to see who wanted to talk to her, ad was not surprised to see her Gryffindor friend, as he jogged a bit to catch up to her.

"Hello, Harry," she greeted him softly. "How are you doing?"

"I'm… fine, I guess," Harry shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, but failing miserably in doing so. "I'm more concerned about you, actually. Are you doing okay? Have your housemates been picking on you?"

"They always are," Luna declared softly. "But I'm used to it. Harry, I've already told you that you shouldn't worry about me so much. I've lived through four years in this school already, and I don't think my housemates would hurt me too much."

"But I don't like to see you being bullied," Harry shook his head, then sighed tiredly. "I never understood them. They're casting you out because you're different… But what's so bad about different?"

"They don't understand it like you do, Harry," Luna said. "You're different as well, so you've always understood what outcasts feel. They don't. But don't worry about it, it doesn't bother me."

"I wish it would," Harry exclaimed. "But if you don't want to talk about it, I won't push you. How are your drawings going, anyway? I haven't seen any of them since we've been to the Shrieking Shack." The moment he mentioned her drawings, Harry could see Luna's eyes as they lit up almost instantly.

Without answering, the Ravenclaw girl reached for her bag, spent a good minute rummaging through it, then pulled out her rainbow-coloured sketchbook with fairies on its cover, and stopped in her tracks to turn it towards Harry.

"I sketched this on History of Magic," she explained with excitement clear in her voice. Harry had to admit that he'd never seen the girl so fired up about anything. She had always been her dreamy self, living in her happy bubble that no one could burst. However, Harry supposed, it seemed that if there was something she was actually passionate about, she could light up like a firework in the matter of a moment.

On the page she was showing to Harry was a pencil sketch of Professor Binns, seemingly in the middle of a speech about something boring, surrounded by couple of students; some of them were half-asleep, some of them were throwing different things – mostly slips of paper – into each other's hair, and some of them were just staring at the window with a blank expression. The picture wasn't moving – which meant it was in no way magical – but it still seemed so realistic that Harry could almost hear Binns' voice as he talked about some uninteresting fact concerning the witch hunting in the medieval ages.

"Wow, that's amazing," he called. "It's just like real life. I thought you were more into abstract paintings, though. Did you change your style?"

"Thank you," Luna smiled softly. "And not really; I never had a particular style, I simply draw what's on my mind. I never really learned about artistic styles anyway. It was my mum, who knew all about arts."

"Your mum?" Harry asked. Luna hadn't really talked about her parents with him yet, so he hung on each and every one of her words. He wanted to memorize everything about her, everything about her quirks, everything about her squicks and everything about her background. He decided that he would do this whole 'getting to know each other more closely' thing seriously.

"She died when I was nine," Luna admitted, although it seemed lie it didn't bother her much. "And Dad has been raising me ever since. If she was alive, I would love to ask her about her art; but it's okay. I'm still a bit sad, because I miss her, but she must be at a better place now. Dad had always told me not to pity the deceased, but to appreciate every bit of good they had done while they were alive."

"That's… a wise thought," Harry mused. "I haven't thought about it like that, but I think you're right. So, um…" He was quickly running out of topics to talk about, now that they have strayed away from the topic of Luna's drawings.

"I know you're searching for a topic to talk about," Luna exclaimed with her usual dreamy tone. "But it's okay; I enjoy companionable silence as well. Oh, and now that I think of it, I forgot my Transfigurations book in the library."

"Well, I don't really want to go to the library now," Harry scratched his head. "You see, I have some other stuff to do as well, and I don't want to disturb anyone, so I'll be going then. Oh, and say hello to Hermione for me; she's still studying for the Charms test we're writing on Thursday."

"Okay," Luna nodded absentmindedly, then pecked Harry's cheek before she turned to leave. "Say hi to Ron for me too. See you later, Harry."

"Yeah, see you," Harry mumbled as he watched the blond girl turning the corner, which led back towards the library.

 _That went well, I guess_ , his mind echoed again as he sauntered back into the Gryffindor Common Room a few minutes later.

~oOo~

"Oi, mate, you back from your emergency studying?" Ron looked up from the table of wizarding chess he just finished playing with Seamus, as Harry stumbled through the portrait of the Fat Lady. "How was it?"

"Next time, remind Hermione not to give me relationship advice covered up as emergency studying," Harry summed up his quick chat with his best friend from earlier as the two best friends plopped down onto one of the unoccupied couches in the Common Room.

"Is this about Cho again?" Ron furrowed his eyebrows. "I thought you were over her. And anyway, she's a bit of a bitch; I wouldn't go after her if I were you."

"No, the Cho part has been over for months now," Harry shook his head. "But it's funny that somehow Hermione seems to know more about my personal life than I do."

"That's Hermione for you," Ron shrugged. "Come on, she's a know-it-all; of course she would try to give you advice about everything. But hey, mate, if it's not Cho, then who is it?"

"Hasn't Hermione told you about it?" Harry asked incredulously.

"No," Ron answered. "Never said a word about it. Wait… Is it Luna?"

"Is it that obvious?" Harry repeated himself again. It awfully seemed like he was the only one to not know about the rumours around the Gryffindor Tower. Again.

"Not for me," Ron shrugged once again. "But you have told us about your little get-together before Christmas, and you're not really the one to chit-chat with other girls anyway. Except for Hermione."

"But that's different."

"Yeah, I guess," Ron agreed. "So, what about you and Luna? Have you asked her out or anything?"

"I start to think you and Hermione are a part of a conspiracy against me," Harry muttered. "We've gone to Hogsmeade together, remember?"

"Yeah, but it's not like you'd snogged afterwards or anything," Ron dabbed.

"I've been a bit preoccupied with my nightmares; I'm terribly sorry," Harry said with a slight sarcastic edge. "I didn't really have the time to think about dating and stuff, since we're in the middle of a war or something."

"It's okay, mate," Ron replied, "but since we're in a war, like you said, why not live a little too? I mean, you'd surely want to snog Luna at least once before we die, right?"

"I sure as hell hope we don't," Harry mumbled. "But I'm waiting for the right moment, okay?"

"I think you're just trying to back out of it," Ron laughed. "Come on, be a true Gryffindor and just tell her you like her the next time you meet."

"Says you," Harry retorted. "I wonder how much it will take for you to confess to a certain fellow Gryffindor about your undying love."

"Pshh, undying love?" Ron snorted. "I think you may have gotten a bit freaky from talking so much with Luna."

"Come on," Harry replied. "Even I can see your head-over-heels for Lavender. And I don't have eyes for these things. Look, at least I asked Luna to go to Hogsmeade for me already."

"Hey, I will talk to her sometime," Ron put his hands up in surrender. "I'm just 'waiting for the right moment.'"

"It's unfair to use my words against me," Harry shook his head, but he was grinning so Ron knew he didn't mean it. "Hermione is rubbing off on you badly."

"I could say the same to you," Ron retorted.

"You know what? I think we ca agree that both of us are hopeless in terms of relationships," Harry sighed as he leaned back on the ruby red sofa.

"True," Ron nodded. "Say, how about a pity high-five?"

"A pity high-five it is," Harry grinned back at his best friend, then slapped the redhead's hand, before standing up and gathering his belongings from a nearby table. "I'm going to take a bath now. See you later, mate."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA My life is a mess. I've been rather preoccupied with QLFC (and the ToS Forum Mafia) lately, also, I have math finals on Tuesday but I entered a comp in which I gotta write 2000 words this weekend, so I decided to update this. I'm sorry for not doing it sooner, I just didn't have the strength and the muse to do it. (And then again, I'm doing most of my work if the deadline is close—remember kids, procrastination is bad)**

 **Also, friendly reminder, this is still kind of a snapshot collection, so there's a time-jump between the last chapter and this one.**

 **I also absolutely didn't research canon for this chapter—but since this isn't canon anyway (I almost never write canon duh), you either deal with it or deal with it. Duh.**

 **Alas, thanks for all the reviews and follows and whatnot, and if you're reading this, thanks for keeping up with me even though I'm a mess. Enjoy.**

 **Word count: 2022**

* * *

Feeling the air rushing beside him, Harry grasped the thestral he was riding on more firmly than he had been until then. He could already see the lights of London beneath him, so he knew that he and his little group would soon reach their destination—the Ministry of Magic.

His heart was hammering in his chest while the blood coursing through his body numbed his senses—his hearing, his vision, his touch, which was rather unfortunate in this case since he was currently riding on a creature that was invisibly for most of his companions, more than a hundred feet above ground.

Shaking his head slightly, the jet black-haired boy tried to focus once again, stealing a glance at the group coming from behind him. He soon found the dreamy gaze of Luna, who, even though they were currently heading towards a possibly deadly mission, was still wearing a faint smile on her face.

Simply looking at her made Harry's hands shake a little less and his heart thud less frequently. Recently, he had often found solace in spending time with the girl, especially since his nightmares were still haunting him every other night. Whenever he looked at her, there was this sudden calming feeling spreading through his body—it was as if he was hit by a Calming Charm.

The same thing happened to him then as well. It couldn't quite erase all his worries about the upcoming events and what they would find in the Ministry, however, it did make him feel less nervous, at least.

Letting out a small sigh before turning back, Harry prepared for landing with the creature as he saw the face of the Earth inching closer and closer until a map of downtown London outlined in front of him.

Soon, all six of the Hogwarts students hopped off of their respective thestrals, and when they did so, Harry gestured for them to follow until they reached the nearby phone booth, which Harry knew was the guest entrance of the Ministry.

~oOo~

"What do you think we should do when we find Sirius?" Harry whispered to Luna as the group of six crossed row 54 in the Hall of Prophecy. "In my dream, he was seated between row 97 and 98; we should be reaching that crossing soon."

"If he's there," Luna answered, "then he will probably focus on you since you're his mortal enemy. I'd try to distract anyone who may be with him."

Harry nodded. "I guess that is a plausible idea. Although, what should I do then?"

"Try to talk as much as you can?" Luna mused. "I haven't met You-Know-Who, so I don't really know how to deal with him, Harry."

"Oh, right," came the boy's answer. "That's true. I just… I'm afraid that something has happened to Sirius while we were flying over Britain, or something. What if he's dead already? If he is, then this whole debacle was for nothing."

"I'm sure he's not dead yet, Harry," Luna patted the boy's back. "If he was, you'd probably know about it anyway. Unless, You-Know-Who wants to bait us here."

"Bait?" Harry asked. "I didn't think about that."

"Isn't that what he did last year as well?" Luna replied as the group neared row 80. "Baiting you in the cemetery with the Triwizard Cup, that is."

"You could say that, yes." Harry scratched his chin. "Hey, we're getting closer and I haven't seen a trace of any Death Eaters yet."

"Doesn't mean they aren't here," the girl said. "Look, it's row 96! Aren't we supposed to find them here?"

"…We are," Harry agreed. "Is Sirius dead? Are we late? Or…?"

"Are you sure you remembered the number right, Harry?" came the voice of Hermione from somewhere behind the Gryffindor boy. "Maybe it wasn't row 97, but row 197, or such?"

Harry gave his head a slight shook. "No, I'm rather sure it was row 97. What if Luna was right, though? What if… Luna?"

"Neville found your name on one of these," said Luna from beside Neville, gesturing at the little glass ball, which was covered in layers and layers of dust, a yellow-tinted piece of parchment hanging off of its scaffolding. "It says 'S. P. T. to A. P. W. B. D, Dark Lord and Harry Potter.' This is a prophecy about you!"

"A prophecy… about me?" Harry furrowed his eyebrows. Nobody had told him about any possible prophecies existing about him; he doubted that one would so suddenly—and so conveniently—turn up. "That must be some kind of mistake."

"The prophecies never lie," Luna replied. "If it's written that it's about you, then it must be."

"That's weird," Harry concluded. "Let me see," he continued as he strolled down the row towards where his friends were standing. He reached towards the glass ball and grasped it firmly in his right.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…" a faint voice came from the prophecy as Harry hoisted it from its stand. Harry's eyes widened slightly upon hearing the words—which sounded somewhat familiar to him if he thought about it.

It was then that the first curse swooshed right by him, startling him and his friends. Harry instantly whipped out his wand and sent a _Stupefy_ in the direction of the previous curse, shouting the spell in a hurry. The rest of the group had their wands at the ready as well, and it didn't come as much of a surprise when Harry caught a glimpse of a mask moving towards the group from the shadows.

 _It seemed it was time for them to fight_ , Harry thought. _Against whatever reason Voldemort wanted them to be there._

~oOo~

The next time Harry woke, he was squished between fluffy pillows and was lying on one of the beds in the Hospital Wing. Upon the first time he opened his eyes, Harry couldn't help but squint as he was blinded by all the whiteness around him—it was especially blinding after the dim lighting of the Department of Mysteries and the Atrium of the Ministry.

Stretching his muscles as he sat up, Harry noticed that his friends were also there, all of them tucked beneath the snowy white sheets, most of the snoring lightly. He supposed it must have been early in the morning, which he confirmed by glancing at the window. The sun had just begun to make its way towards the top of the sky, slowly creeping upwards, inch by inch.

It was a beautiful sight, although it was shrouded slightly by the memories that started flooding Harry's mind as soon as he got a glance around the place. Pictures of the Battle in the Death Chamber, then Sirius falling through that ominous veil with his ghostly-looking trademark grin, then him facing Voldemort again in the Atrium, him attacking Dumbledore, and so on and on…

His head ached from everything he had experienced not long ago, and plopping down back onto his duvets didn't ease this ache either. Harry shut his eyes and tried to concentrate on something else—anything else—but it only made his headache worse—and it already felt like a lightning bolt had hit him—which was rather ironic, considering the scar on his forehead, which was also painfully pulsing.

"Harry?" came a soft voice from Harry's left. His eyes flew open upon hearing his name, and he turned to face the dirty blond-haired girl in the bed next to his. Luna was currently sitting, her blue orbs locked on the window through which she could watch as the sun rose.

"Luna?" the boy replied. "How are you awake this early?"

"I could ask the same thing of you," she answered. "I woke up to the Wrackspurts buzzing beside my head, and I couldn't go back to sleep. But I don't mind; have you ever seen the sunrise, Harry? I think it's marvellous."

Harry looked to be deep in thought for a moment. "I don't think I have, no. It does look good, I guess."

"I've always wanted to paint the sunrise," Luna mused. "Such a shame that I have broken my wrist. I hope it will heal fast."

"I'm sure it will. Madam Pomphrey knows how to mend broken bones in a night, you know. I had the unfortunate chance to experience it first-hand." Harry winced slightly while muttering the last few words out loud.

"Oh, I'm sure she does. Say, Harry, how are your nightmares. Have you experienced any of them while you were asleep?"

"I dunno, to be fair," Harry shrugged after what seemed like hours of silence. "I can't remember having any while I was out cold. The memories, though, they're coming back. And I have a terrible headache because of them."

"I have those too," Luna nodded in understanding. "It must be the hardest for you, though. I know how hard it is to lose a family member."

"I just… I just can't believe Sirius is dead. He was the closest I've ever had to a family. And… He's been there only for two years; that's almost nothing compared to the almost sixteen years of my life. I'm just… I'm not sure what to do now. We're in the middle of a war, but am I supposed to save the Wizarding World, or what? I can't do something like that," he shook his head, maybe a bit more forcefully than necessary.

"You don't have to do it alone," the Ravenclaw girl replied. "Remember, we accompanied you to the Ministry; we'll fight with you later on too. maybe you've lost someone, but you also gained others."

Harry let out an exasperated sigh. "Maybe," he concluded, burying his head in his pillows once again. "I just don't know what to do."

"You can always ask for help," Luna advised. "That's what we're here for. Or, if you want to take your mind off of something, you can always visit the thestrals. That's what I usually do as well. They're very understanding creatures; you should try giving them a chance too."

"Maybe," Harry answered, though he was rather sure he wouldn't. It just didn't seem like the type of activity that would help him—or calm him down. "Hey, Luna, how long do you suppose we've slept for?"

"How tired do you feel?" Luna asked.

"Not really," Harry said. "A little bit, I guess. Why?"

"We must have been out for quite a long time, then," the girl concluded. "Since the Battle took place at night, and it's dawn now."

Mildly surprised, Harry turned to face the Ravenclaw once again. "So you think it was more than a day?"

"Probably, yes," Luna nodded.

Moments of silence passed before Harry spoke up again. "I should go back to sleep more. I have this feeling that whenever I wake up, I'll have to face consequences I don't yet want to."

"Isn't it better to face those consequences sooner than later, though?"

"Not for me, not now, no," Harry shook his head. "I want to prolong hear about them for as long as I can, to be honest."

"That's not very Gryffindor of you," Luna pointed out.

"I know," Harry admitted. "It's just that this year has been traumatising enough; don't you think so?"

"I do," Luna agreed, "however, if you don't face what is to come, then you may just run late."

"I hate it when you're right," Harry winced.

"No, you don't," the girl smiled faintly. "Do you want to watch the sunrise with me?"

"I guess I could," the boy replied hesitantly.

"Here, take my hand, then."

"Why?"

"Why not?" came the answer. Not quite knowing what to make of the answer, Harry decided to let it go and caught to girl's hand in his. It felt weirdly reassuring, much like anything he had done with her in the past few months. He wasn't sure why, but for then, he decided not to make a fuss about it. He was too tired of everything that had happened to complain.

And then, the two of them continued watching the sunrise.


End file.
